


Individuality

by SeafoamGalaxy



Series: The Crystal Geodes [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gemlings, Gen, Pillow & Blanket Forts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:42:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28744920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeafoamGalaxy/pseuds/SeafoamGalaxy
Summary: The triplets get named.
Series: The Crystal Geodes [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2096409
Kudos: 6





	Individuality

“What are you going to name them?”

Steven’s completely innocent question was enough to cause a baffled silence throughout the beach house. From his place seated on the floor he glanced between Lapis and Peridot, both of whom were on the couch with their laps full of sleeping babies. The two gave each other a blank look before turning their gaze back to him with the same expression.

“Name them?” Lapis echoed, sounding confused by the idea. The tiny Gem in her arms shuffled slightly in response to her voice, one small hand reaching out from within her blanket to gently grasp a handful of Lapis’ dress. She was no more than three hours old and most of that time had been spent fast asleep in the blue Gem’s arms, having claimed her as a parent and stubbornly refused to be corrected.

“Yeah!” Steven said encouragingly. “They need names. Otherwise how are they going to know when you’re calling to them?”

Peridot lifted up one of the Gems in her lap; the middle child, already noticeably larger than her sisters and with a thick mane of pale hair reminiscent of a Quartz. Lapis averted her gaze; it was going to take her some time to stop feeling uneasy around that one.

“Well, this one was implanted first, in the leftmost position of the three,” Peridot was explaining. “Based on that and her location in relation to the final few Era One exit holes, she should be Facet-5 Cut-“

“No, no,” Steven interrupted, “I don’t mean that kind of name. I mean, I know that’s the way things worked where you came from. But this is Earth! You don’t have to be called by a bunch of numbers any more, do you?”

Slowly Peridot lowered the sleeping Gem back onto her lap. Her gaze lingered thoughtfully on her for a moment. “You’re right. Here, I’m just Peridot. That’s all I need to be.”

“But if we don’t use those identifiers, what are we supposed to call them?” Lapis enquired.

Steven was about to start listing off all of the human names he could think of when the sound of the Temple door opening interrupted his thoughts. He twisted around, wondering if Pearl had finally stopped hiding and come to see the new arrivals properly, but instead he was greeted with the sight of Garnet exiting Amethyst’s room with a stack of cushions. “Garnet!”

“Hello, you three.” She smiled around the small tower in her hands. “I thought you could use these. Those children are going to be falling off almost anything they can climb. They need soft surfaces to land on.”

“Are those Amethyst’s?” Steven asked as she placed them down beside the couch.

“She doesn’t mind. In fact, she’s searching for more to bring out.”

As she turned to go back inside the Temple Peridot spoke up. “Wait! Maybe you can help us.”

Garnet paused and faced them again. Peridot swallowed nervously and shrank back slightly into the couch, slightly intimidated by her unreadable expression, but she ploughed ahead bravely. “You’re a fusion. And these new Gems… they’re kind of like fusions, right? I mean, none of them are perfect clones of Jasper or myself. So how did you know what to call yourself? How do we know what to call them?”

“That’s a good point,” Lapis agreed quietly. “You never fused with Jasper, did you, Peridot? If you had we might know what to call them.”

“Fusion isn’t that simple,” Garnet told them as she settled on her knees beside Steven. “Yes, when Ruby and Sapphire fuse they form me. But if a different Ruby fused with a different Sapphire, they could be Diopside, or Zoisite, or Fire Opal. It depends on the individuals. If you want to name these three, stop thinking of what one particular fusion might have been and start thinking about what’s right in front of you.”

“What type of Gems do you think they look like?“ Steven prompted.

Lapis hummed thoughtfully, glancing between the three bundles. “I could say two Peridots and a Jasper, but that might only be because I know who made them.”

“This one _does_ look like a Jasper, though.” Peridot loosened the blanket slightly around the striped Gem, revealing her face and broader shoulders. “A green Jasper… maybe Crocodile Jasper?”

“She does look like she could be one,” Lapis agreed. “Should that be her name?”

Both of them looked to Garnet for approval and she held up her hands as though to stop them. “That’s not up to me. It’s up to you.”

“Crocodile Jasper…” Peridot repeated softly, her eyes lingering on the sleeping Gem. “Yes, I think that fits her nicely.” She tucked the blanket snugly around her again and indicated the other baby in her lap. “How about this one?”

Steven hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe… Topaz?”

“She doesn’t look anything like a Topaz,” Lapis stated flatly.

“She doesn’t have to. She’s unique, like Garnet said!”

For a moment Peridot studied her daughter quietly, a small frown playing across her face. She could dimly hear Steven asking Garnet for more ideas, but she tuned their voices out as she ran through names in her head until one seemed to stick. “Honey Calcite,” she said abruptly. “I think that should be her name.”

“Good choice,” Garnet said approvingly.

“Yeah!” Steven agreed. “It’s really nice. We could call her Honey for short.”

Lapis turned her attention to the final baby curled up in her lap. “What about this one? I can’t think of her as anything other than a Peridot. Just look at her. Even her gem is the right shape.”

Steven contemplated that for a moment before his expression lit up. “I know! Since she’s so tiny, we could call her Dot as a nickname!”

“As long as you don’t mind giving that one up, Peridot,” Garnet added with a small smile.

Peridot shrugged. “Works for me. So then, it’s settled! They all have names! Now we just need to-“

She was cut off by the Temple door opening again. Everyone turned in unison in time to see Pearl step out and pause in surprise, clearly caught off-guard by the small gathering. Just as Garnet began to rise, Pearl bit her lip and hurried forward to step onto the warp pad.

“Pearl, wait!” Steven jumped to his feet and ran toward her, but he was too late to stop her from beaming away. He slowed to a stop and gazed at the empty warp pad for a moment before looking up at Garnet. “Do you think she’s okay? She looked really unhappy…”

“I’ll go after her,” Garnet promised. “You stay here and help Lapis and Peridot.”

“O-okay…” Steven watched in concern as Garnet warped away in pursuit. There was a frown on his face when he returned to his spot on the floor. Whatever was wrong, he was sure that Garnet would calm Pearl down. Though he knew how stuck in her own head she could get sometimes, when she was particularly emotional…

“Steven?”

Lapis’ voice snapped him out of his thoughts. She was on her feet, supporting the sleeping Dot against her hip and giving him a questioning look. He responded with a sheepish smile. “Uh, sorry. What did you say?”

“Could you help us put these three to bed? We need to make sure they won’t fall out.”

“Oh, right! We can build walls with some of these.” He grabbed an armful of the cushions Garnet had brought out and began to carry them upstairs. “They won’t fall out of a blanket fort. And I bet they’ll love it!”

“What’s a blanket fort?” Peridot questioned as she began to follow him curiously.

“I’ll show you! First you prop some cushions up like this…”

Peridot watched with interest until Lapis stepped past her to deposit Dot in the unfinished fort. A few moments later she was bringing more cushions up to join in. Peridot quickly followed her lead, following Steven’s guidance to construct the most comfortable shelter she could for her children. They deserved only the best, she decided as she glanced at the sleeping triplets. And if right now that meant the most perfect blanket fort of all time, that was what they would get.

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't know how to make a blanket fort.


End file.
